SurveyGuruhttp://surveyguru.com
Research - Insight - ResultsTue, 09 Jun 2015 17:16:47 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.3Get rid of a customer and boost your profit!http://surveyguru.com/get-rid-of-a-customer-and-boost-your-profit/
http://surveyguru.com/get-rid-of-a-customer-and-boost-your-profit/#commentsTue, 28 Apr 2015 14:29:06 +0000http://surveyguru.com/?p=1407 Get rid of a customer and boost your profit? “How the hell can that work” you’re wondering? “And this is coming from Brendan who’s always harping on about focussing on customers.” No – I haven’t gone crazy. And no – neither am I contradicting myself. Let me illustrate with numbers. Imagine you have annual revenue of €1,000,000. And imagine it’s producing a profit of €40,000. It’s a low margin – but it’s on the right side of zero! But wait – let’s dig a little deeper into this scenario. … Continue reading →

“And this is coming from Brendan who’s always harping on about focussing on customers.”

No – I haven’t gone crazy.

And no – neither am I contradicting myself.

Let me illustrate with numbers.

Imagine you have annual revenue of €1,000,000. And imagine it’s producing a profit of €40,000. It’s a low margin – but it’s on the right side of zero!

But wait – let’s dig a little deeper into this scenario.

Imagine you have 2 customers providing you with that €1,000,000 – John spending €600,000 & Linda spending €400,000 with you. You’re making a profit on John of €50,000 and a loss on Linda of €10,000.

And imagine that Linda’s account is not the thin edge of a wedge you are confident of growing. So there’s no compelling commercial argument to continue to sell to Linda. Let’s look then at the numbers again – this time if you were to stop selling to Linda:

Your total sales? €600,000.

Your profit? €50,000.

You have reduced your turnover by 40% but boosted your profit by 25%!

So why is a non-accountant like me talking this language?

Well it’s simple. I want you to make more money.

Recently I was talking to an accountant. I asked him to estimate what percentage of businesses FAIL to break down their P&L by customers. And I specifically said I was talking about those businesses where the customers spend enough money to justify this type of analysis.

I was guessing a majority of businesses. He said a “large majority”.

Do you do such a breakdown?

If not – is this something worth your while looking at?

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]]>http://surveyguru.com/get-rid-of-a-customer-and-boost-your-profit/feed/0When you just have too much to do…http://surveyguru.com/when-you-just-have-too-much-to-do/
http://surveyguru.com/when-you-just-have-too-much-to-do/#commentsFri, 27 Mar 2015 21:56:48 +0000http://surveyguru.com/?p=1393 One Friday morning at the end of January I was talking to a friend who’s a business owner – and who was feeling overwhelmed. He was overwhelmed to such an extent that he wasn’t really looking forward to the approaching weekend. All the work that needed to be done just felt like a huge weight – a weight that would be on his mind all weekend and awaiting him on Monday morning. He wasn’t just having Sunday night blues – his blues were already in place on Friday! Not good! Do you … Continue reading →

One Friday morning at the end of January I was talking to a friend who’s a business owner – and who was feeling overwhelmed.

He was overwhelmed to such an extent that he wasn’t really looking forward to the approaching weekend. All the work that needed to be done just felt like a huge weight – a weight that would be on his mind all weekend and awaiting him on Monday morning.

He wasn’t just having Sunday night blues – his blues were already in place on Friday!

Not good!

Do you ever have that feeling? If no then that’s great – you might as well stop reading now and move on to whatever’s next on your todo list.

Some years ago the Harvard Business Review published a tip on the topic of overwhelm. There’s nothing earth-shattering in it. It’s no magic wand. But it did resonate with me.

So at the time I printed it out and stuck it to the underside of my monitor where it remains to this day.

When I got back to the office after meeting with my friend I took a photo of it and sent it to him. I thought that might be more concrete than simply pointing him to a URL.

]]>http://surveyguru.com/when-you-just-have-too-much-to-do/feed/0Bacteria are like business challengeshttp://surveyguru.com/bacteria-are-like-business-challenges/
http://surveyguru.com/bacteria-are-like-business-challenges/#commentsFri, 20 Feb 2015 00:29:25 +0000http://surveyguru.com/?p=1371 What do you do when you face a really tough challenge in your business? Give up? Keep banging your head against the wall and expect a different result? Get creative? Maybe medical researchers can help guide us – from their work on antibiotics. Antibiotics are fighting a war against bacterial infection. And there is growing concern in the medical community about our ability to, long-term, win that war. The problem? Disease-causing bacteria are relentlessly fighting back. Recently I was listening to a medical report that said that there are some strains of … Continue reading →

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What do you do when you face a really tough challenge in your business?

Give up? Keep banging your head against the wall and expect a different result? Get creative?

Maybe medical researchers can help guide us – from their work on antibiotics. Antibiotics are fighting a war against bacterial infection. And there is growing concern in the medical community about our ability to, long-term, win that war.

The problem?

Disease-causing bacteria are relentlessly fighting back. Recently I was listening to a medical report that said that there are some strains of tuberculosis that have developed resistance to all known antibiotics.

And if we lose the war? Imagine penicillin being useless. Imagine infection-free surgery becoming impossible. Imagine…

So what to do?

Give up?

Nope – not an option.

Stay ahead of things by developing new antibiotics?

Yep – that’s good.

Develop new antibiotics that bacteria don’t become resistant to?

That’s the mother lode – and there’s the lesson for us too in business. When faced with a serious challenge we can’t simply give up. We need to persevere. But neither do we want to be insane in an Einsteinian way – doing the same thing and expecting a different result.

Can we skirt around the challenge? Can we render the challenge irrelevant to what we’re doing? Ask yourself those questions next time!

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]]>http://surveyguru.com/bacteria-are-like-business-challenges/feed/0An American President and the Irish soccer teamhttp://surveyguru.com/an-american-president-and-the-irish-soccer-team/
http://surveyguru.com/an-american-president-and-the-irish-soccer-team/#commentsFri, 31 Oct 2014 21:58:01 +0000http://surveyguru.com/?p=1363 “Nothing in the world can take the place of Persistence.” So said Calvin Coolidge – 30th President of the US. He was in office nearly a century ago – 1923-1929 – but what he said is timeless. A few weeks ago Ireland played Germany – the worthy World Cup Champions this past summer in Brazil. So here’s the scene : After the regulation 90 minutes we are losing 1:0. 4 minutes of added time are announced. The team is wrecked physically and mentally after 90 minutes of trying to counter a superior … Continue reading →

So said Calvin Coolidge – 30th President of the US. He was in office nearly a century ago – 1923-1929 – but what he said is timeless.

A few weeks ago Ireland played Germany – the worthy World Cup Champions this past summer in Brazil.

So here’s the scene : After the regulation 90 minutes we are losing 1:0. 4 minutes of added time are announced.

The team is wrecked physically and mentally after 90 minutes of trying to counter a superior force.

“Believe” I’m shouting at the television as my son beside me thinks (once again) that his Dad is losing it.

The minutes tick by. After 27 seconds of that final 4th minute of additional time Ireland pile forward and score an equalising goal of the highest quality – a superbly cushioned volleyed pass from young Jeff Hendrick to John O’Shea who, having assumed the captain’s armband, scores just his 3rd international goal on the night he earns his 100th cap.

The goal – and the manner of its achievement – lifted the country. And it would probably have caused the reserved and quiet Coolidge to perhaps smile and knowingly nod his head.

The team’s persistence was magnificent – and proof of what is possible – even against the odds – when you put your shoulder against the wheel. So take heart – similar persistence won’t guarantee you business success. But with it you’re on the right road.

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]]>http://surveyguru.com/an-american-president-and-the-irish-soccer-team/feed/0Irritating questionshttp://surveyguru.com/being-asked-irritating-questions/
http://surveyguru.com/being-asked-irritating-questions/#commentsTue, 30 Sep 2014 16:06:34 +0000http://surveyguru.com/?p=1353 I’m guessing that once or twice you’ve shared my irritation at being asked to answer bad questions? There I was one Friday a few weeks ago – answering a phone survey on banking services for small businesses. The guy was asking me to what extent I’d consider choosing particular providers. The first provider he mentioned was my own business banking provider – Bank Of Ireland. I said the question wasn’t applicable to me as I was already with them. He said that unfortunately there was no “not applicable” or “they’re already my provider” options. … Continue reading →

I’m guessing that once or twice you’ve shared my irritation at being asked to answer bad questions?

There I was one Friday a few weeks ago – answering a phone survey on banking services for small businesses.

The guy was asking me to what extent I’d consider choosing particular providers. The first provider he mentioned was my own business banking provider – Bank Of Ireland. I said the question wasn’t applicable to me as I was already with them. He said that unfortunately there was no “not applicable” or “they’re already my provider” options.

There’s flaw 1 – not providing the reasonable options that a respondent might wish to see.

So I suggested we skip the question. He said that he wasn’t allowed proceed to the next question without getting an answer.

There’s flaw 2 – obliging a respondent to answer a question that’s not relevant to them.

Can you guess what I did?

Yep – I ended the call amicably – with him maybe thinking I was being an awkward b****** :-). Life is too short to waste time on crap surveys!

You’re one of the lucky people though. If you’re considering carrying out a survey you know who to talk to in order to ensure it’s done right :-). I can guarantee you that, among lots of other things, your respondents will have reasonable options to choose from and that they won’t be asked any questions that are not relevant to them!

They won’t be asked irritating questions!

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]]>http://surveyguru.com/being-asked-irritating-questions/feed/0Killing 2+ birds with the one stonehttp://surveyguru.com/killing-2-birds-with-the-one-stone/
http://surveyguru.com/killing-2-birds-with-the-one-stone/#commentsTue, 12 Aug 2014 14:42:07 +0000http://surveyguru.com/?p=1324 Recently I was on my way to a meeting with my accountant. The meeting wasn’t boring at all – and included two lovely homemade coffees! Anyway, on my way to the meeting I was driving around Kilkenny’s ring road – a ring road that has a footpath and cycle path alongside it. A woman was jogging – and pushing a baby’s buggy as she jogged. Now I hope the buggy was sturdy and well-oiled – otherwise she was risking dislocating her shoulder and/or bouncing her baby out of the buggy! Fair play to … Continue reading →

Recently I was on my way to a meeting with my accountant. The meeting wasn’t boring at all – and included two lovely homemade coffees!

Anyway, on my way to the meeting I was driving around Kilkenny’s ring road – a ring road that has a footpath and cycle path alongside it.

A woman was jogging – and pushing a baby’s buggy as she jogged. Now I hope the buggy was sturdy and well-oiled – otherwise she was risking dislocating her shoulder and/or bouncing her baby out of the buggy!

Fair play to her I thought. She was getting her exercise. She was getting the baby some fresh air. She was saving on childcare costs.

In summary, she was leveraging her time in a highly effective way.

She’s a model for us.

There are just 168 hours in the week for you and me and the other 7 billion of us.

Can you leverage your time better?

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]]>http://surveyguru.com/killing-2-birds-with-the-one-stone/feed/0The World Cup birthday paradoxhttp://surveyguru.com/the-world-cup-birthday-paradox/
http://surveyguru.com/the-world-cup-birthday-paradox/#commentsWed, 18 Jun 2014 15:11:38 +0000http://surveyguru.com/?p=1319 If you are in a room with 22 other people there is a slightly greater than 50% chance that at least 2 of you will share the same birthday. Do you doubt that? It would be natural if you did. It’s counter-intuitive. However, stay with me a little as I explain it. If you are on your own in a room, the chances of you having a birthday unique to yourself is 100% – or 365/365. If a 2nd person enters the room, the chances of them having a birthday unique … Continue reading →

If you are in a room with 22 other people there is a slightly greater than 50% chance that at least 2 of you will share the same birthday.

Do you doubt that?

It would be natural if you did. It’s counter-intuitive.

However, stay with me a little as I explain it.

If you are on your own in a room, the chances of you having a birthday unique to yourself is 100% – or 365/365.

If a 2nd person enters the room, the chances of them having a birthday unique to themselves is a little less than 100% – or 364/365 – because one day is taken by you. You can see that 364/365 is actually (365-1)/365.

If a 3rd person enters the room, the chances of them having a birthday unique to themselves is a little less again – this time it’s 363/365 – or (365-2)/365.

Etc…

When the 23rd person enters the room, the chances of them having a birthday unique to themselves is (365-22)/365.

Now the probability of all 23 having a birthday unique to themselves is calculated by multiplying all the individual probabilities.

That number comes out at 0.491 – or just less than 50%.

So if you flip that around, the chances of at least 2 people sharing a birthday is 1 – 0.491 or 0.509 – just over 50%.

So you only need 23 people to have a greater than 50% chance of 2 of them sharing a birthday. Maybe your classes at school reflected this?

The World Cup squads do! They’re 23 in size and 16 of the 32 squads have at least one shared birthday.

What has this got to do with your business?

Gut feelings can sometimes reveal the direction you should take – indeed sometimes gut feelings are all you have.

But not always.

Sometimes you have numbers to look at. And when you do, you should heed what those numbers are saying – even if the results seem counter-intuitive.

And, if you’re not mathematically inclined, and you’re wondering who can help you with data, the good news is that you know someone who is – you’re reading his blog post!

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]]>http://surveyguru.com/the-world-cup-birthday-paradox/feed/0No WAY can I ask them what they think of me!http://surveyguru.com/no-way-can-i-ask-them-what-they-think-of-me/
http://surveyguru.com/no-way-can-i-ask-them-what-they-think-of-me/#commentsThu, 05 Jun 2014 14:31:03 +0000http://surveyguru.com/?p=1298 A few years ago I was in BNI – a referral-based networking group. At every meeting you did a pitch to the members in the room – and indirectly to their networks. One week I asked the people in the room to raise their hands if they felt they were delivering excellent customer service to their customers. 17 out of 21 raised their hands. One of the 4 who kept their hands down intrigued me. Let’s call him “John”. John intrigued me because, without prompting , he offered the comment : “No WAY can … Continue reading →

A few years ago I was in BNI – a referral-based networking group. At every meeting you did a pitch to the members in the room – and indirectly to their networks.

One week I asked the people in the room to raise their hands if they felt they were delivering excellent customer service to their customers. 17 out of 21 raised their hands. One of the 4 who kept their hands down intrigued me. Let’s call him “John”.

John intrigued me because, without prompting , he offered the comment : “No WAY can I ask them what they think of me!”

The meeting didn’t lend itself to probing much further – the BNI meeting formula doesn’t lend itself to that. But I did follow up with John offline.

Guess why he didn’t want to ask his customers for their opinions? It wasn’t that he knew that his customer service wasn’t excellent. The reason was because` he felt that, by asking them, they’d be reminded of his less than excellent service.

That is where he was wrong.

His customers have their opinions of him and his service – whether he asks them or not. If they’re dissatisfied they won’t forget. Indeed they may well tell others. And they’re actually more likely to tell others if they feel ignored – if they feel that John isn’t interested.

There is no downside to asking your customers for feedback – so long as you do it right and not too often. But work with me and I’ll make sure you don’t make those mistakes :-).

Oh – and the 17 companies who considered themselves to be delivering excellent customer service? A large majority of them are probably wrong – but that’s a post for another day!

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]]>http://surveyguru.com/no-way-can-i-ask-them-what-they-think-of-me/feed/0The problem with memories…http://surveyguru.com/the-problem-with-memories/
http://surveyguru.com/the-problem-with-memories/#commentsFri, 09 May 2014 09:57:32 +0000http://surveyguru.com/?p=1286 The problem with memories is that they’re often false. Let me explain… You’ve probably heard about what can happen to a “true” story if John tells it to Mary and Mary then tells Patrick and Patrick then tells ….. until someone tells the story back to John. The story will probably have changed substantially. But that’s not the only problem. As individuals we revise our memories over time. Totally innocently. And we can do so with conviction. As Elizabeth Loftus said in a TED talk in Edinburgh last year, memory works “more like a … Continue reading →

Let me explain… You’ve probably heard about what can happen to a “true” story if John tells it to Mary and Mary then tells Patrick and Patrick then tells ….. until someone tells the story back to John. The story will probably have changed substantially.

But that’s not the only problem. As individuals we revise our memories over time. Totally innocently. And we can do so with conviction. As Elizabeth Loftus said in a TED talk in Edinburgh last year, memory works “more like a Wikipedia page: You can go in there and change it, but so can other people“. (Loftus is a renowned psychologist who has been studying this area since the 1970s. You can view the fascinating TED talk here. The quote is at around the 5:25 mark.)

How is this applicable to your business?

The answer is data.

Collected data, if held securely, does not change. Mathematical analysis of it does not change.

Don’t rely on vague impressions such as:

“Our customers are fairly satisfied with us – they don’t complain much”.

You also can’t measure any future trend because you don’t have a baseline to start with.

So – measure and get the data. Collected data will allow you to avoid the problems of false memories – whether the falsification is malignant or benign. And it’ll also give you a numeric baseline against which to measure future performance.

You want to collect some unambiguous hard data on which to base your business decisions? I’d be glad to discuss!

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]]>http://surveyguru.com/the-problem-with-memories/feed/0Is an online survey the right solution?http://surveyguru.com/is-an-online-survey-the-right-solution/
http://surveyguru.com/is-an-online-survey-the-right-solution/#commentsTue, 22 Apr 2014 14:26:49 +0000http://surveyguru.com/?p=1281 “I want to do an online survey of my customers.” That’s a statement I’ve heard many times from people. However, it might not be the best thing to do. Or it might not be sufficiently well defined. People are always surprised when I don’t immediately say – “Ok – let’s do it”. Maybe they’re wondering : “Why is this guy talking himself out of a possible sale?” The reason is simple. I’ll only do an online survey for people if it is what’s best for them. And, to determine what is best, we … Continue reading →

That’s a statement I’ve heard many times from people. However, it might not be the best thing to do. Or it might not be sufficiently well defined.

People are always surprised when I don’t immediately say – “Ok – let’s do it”. Maybe they’re wondering : “Why is this guy talking himself out of a possible sale?”

The reason is simple. I’ll only do an online survey for people if it is what’s best for them. And, to determine what is best, we need to step back a little and ask : What is the ultimate goal here?

Imagine, for example, if your customers don’t use email or don’t have good internet access. Or imagine if they employ gatekeepers to filter their emails. Or imagine if they are sufficiently important to you to warrant a different research tool, e.g., face-to-face conversations as opposed to an online survey.

So an online survey might be entirely appropriate. Or it might be only a partial solution. Or it might be the entirely wrong research tool to use.

Looking at the overall context will light the way! And that requires clearly identifying what the ultimate goal is. All else follows from that.

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